September 24, 2018

The muggy days of summer have yet to fully leave us behind, I suspect, though we are in a cool spell now. We continue to alleviate the heat with air conditioning and fun books from the library.

Some of our summer favorites:

The Day Louis Got Eaten by John Fardell

The Man from the Land of Fandango by Margaret Mahy

Lentil by Robert McClosky

A Fine Dessert by Emily Jenkins

Hooray for Bread by Alan Ahlberg

The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massey

September 10, 2018

A brief dispatch from Plant World...

The aloe plant that Amos gave me for my birthday last year bloomed, a gravity-defying display of coral colored tube flowers. A pleasant surprise.

The cuttings from the Pothos plant Mother sent me in early spring had rooted nicely and were just tooling along, doing their thing, when one day something happened.

Can you spot the impostor?

Perhaps it's easier from this angle. What is that Mutant Thing? And where in the world did it come from?

September 3, 2018

How to create a stencil design on a cake...

First, cut the design you want to be on the cake out of light cardboard (like a cereal box.) Amos chose this Fleur du Lis design to be on his birthday cake.

After refrigerating or freezing the cake until the frosting is firm, place the cardboard pieces on top of the cake and press down gently until all edges are touching the cake.

Sprinkle powdered sugar, cocoa powder, or colored sugar until the cardboard design is completely covered.

Gently brush the excess powder off of the cardboard pieces, and then lift them off the cake.

Your design should show clearly underneath. Afterwards of course you can clean the excess sugar or
powder of the cake plate.